15. Girvan Dempsey (in time, Kearney will have this spot)
14. Shane Horgan (couldn't pick Geoghegan since he only played about 5 times as a pro for Ireland)
13. Brian O'Driscoll
12. Gordon D'arcy
11. Denis Hickie
10. Ronan O'Gara
9. Peter Stringer
1. Nick Popplewell (outstanding prop who played in an era when Ireland were sh*te)
2. Keith Wood
3. John Hayes
4. Jeremy Davidson (gets in ahead of O'Kelly due to Lions starting spot)
5. Paul O'Connell
6. Victor Costello (no outstanding contenders but his time at 6 coincided with a good run of results)
7. David Wallace
8. Anthony Foley (in time Heaslip will be)

15. Girvan Dempsey (in time, Kearney will have this spot)
14. Shane Horgan (couldn't pick Geoghegan since he only played about 5 times as a pro for Ireland)
13. Brian O'Driscoll
12. Gordon D'arcy
11. Denis Hickie
10. Ronan O'Gara
9. Peter Stringer
1. Nick Popplewell (outstanding prop who played in an era when Ireland were sh*te)
2. Keith Wood
3. John Hayes
4. Jeremy Davidson (gets in ahead of O'Kelly due to Lions starting spot)
5. Paul O'Connell
6. Victor Costello (no outstanding contenders but his time at 6 coincided with a good run of results)
7. David Wallace
8. Anthony Foley (in time Heaslip will be)[/b]

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can't believe I forgot Popplewell, suppose his outstanding moment was on the Lions tour of 1993, you just don't think of him as having played much in the professional era.

Caps are not the be all and end all. Surely to get into the best Irish XV of the last 13 or so years you would have to be more than 'solid'. Neither Gatland or Eddie did a very good job, would having Kidney as coach be putting the mockers on him Tarbh? Keith Wood is captain.

he took over in 1998, went at the end of 2001, he had plenty of time, but he didn't have the support of the players prior to the 6N in 2002, so he had to go. Whether it was media spin or not a lot of the credit to the upsurge in the Irish team was attributed to EOS rather than Gatland. I don't think Gatland would be the coach he is today if he didn't have that experience with Ireland.

Caps are not the be all and end all. Surely to get into the best Irish XV of the last 13 or so years you would have to be more than 'solid'. Neither Gatland or Eddie did a very good job, would having Kidney as coach be putting the mockers on him Tarbh? Keith Wood is captain.[/b]

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there's no doubt that Kidney is the best Irish coach of the professional era but if we're solely judging on Ireland coaches than it has to be EOS.